China Box Office: 'Thor: The Dark World' Hits Close to $50 Million

The hammer-wielding Avenger took nearly $25 million in its first full week in the world's second biggest box office.

Thor: The Dark World edged closer to the $50 million mark in China this week as the hammer-wielding Avengers star took nearly $25 million in its first full week screening in the world's second biggest box office.

In another strong week for Hollywood in China, Thor took $24.93 million in the week ending Nov. 17 for a cumulative total of $46.25 million in 10 days on Chinese screens, with more than 3.9 million admissions, according to data from the research group Entgroup.

The strong performance saw it move clear of the Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone action movie Escape Plan, which took $13.25 million, for a cumulative total of $34.26 million with nearly 2.6 million admissions.

Thor's performance vis-a-vis Escape Plan has partially been due to the fact that it is showing in 3D and Imax, both hugely popular formats in China.

In its first three days of opening, the Bruce Willis-starring Red 2 took $5.85 million. The movie is showing on 62,431 screens, far fewer than Thor's 181,063.

The biggest Chinese contender this week was again the Zhang Hanyu and Wang Luodan-starring Love You for Loving Me, which took $2.6 million for a total of $4.34 million, followed in fifth place by Love Speaks, which took $1.87 million for a total of $3.48 million.

Other Hollywood fare this week included Hotel Transylvania, which took $1.83 million, making $11.18 million in China so far.

Chinese releases had an underwhelming week, with the romantic comedy My Boyfriends taking $750,000 in its first week, the suspense thriller Bu Bu Zhui Hun making $490,000 in its first seven days, and the thriller Black Mirror racking up $320,000 in its first week.

The Russian war epic Stalingrad has had a solid run, earning more than $11.5 million in China.